The writer, Phil Bronstein, who heads up the Center for Investigative Reporting, stands by the story. He said the assertion that the government gave the SEAL “nothing” in terms of health care is both fair and accurate, because the SEAL didn’t know the VA benefits existed.

I find that hard to believe. Pretty sure you get a thorough meeting with people to discuss your benefits whenever separating from the military voluntarily, if my friends who have done so are any indication.

]]>By: wroghttps://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/11/best-healthcare-in-the-world/#comment-4211193
Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:22:20 +0000http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=125473#comment-4211193@kc:
I was going to say only $6000?
]]>By: wroghttps://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/11/best-healthcare-in-the-world/#comment-4211192
Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:22:17 +0000http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=125473#comment-4211192@kc:
I was going to say only $6000?
]]>By: BruinKidhttps://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/11/best-healthcare-in-the-world/#comment-4210843
Tue, 12 Feb 2013 01:19:41 +0000http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=125473#comment-4210843Hey guys, you realize the Esquire story is VERY misleading, don’t you? It left out some important details.

Except the claim about health care is wrong. And no servicemember who does less than 20 years gets a pension, unless he has to medically retire.

Like every combat veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the former SEAL, who is identified in the story only as “the Shooter”, is automatically eligible for five years of free healthcare through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

But the story doesn’t mention that.

The writer, Phil Bronstein, who heads up the Center for Investigative Reporting, stands by the story. He said the assertion that the government gave the SEAL “nothing” in terms of health care is both fair and accurate, because the SEAL didn’t know the VA benefits existed.

“No one ever told him that this is available,” Bronstein said.

He said there wasn’t space in the article to explain that the former SEAL’s lack of healthcare was driven by an ignorance of the benefits to which he is entitled.

“That’s a different story,” Bronstein said in a phone interview with Stars and Stripes about what he omitted from the article.

And here I thought the Obama regime actually cared about those who carry out his orders. Like so many others, Obama throws our best heroes under the bus.

But hey, Obama got bin Laden, right? And the Obama regime says Al Qaeda is in retreat, except that it isn’t?

New troll in the house, folks.

You want retirement benefits, you stay in the full 20 years. What, did he expect special treatment? Is that what you expect for him, asshole?

]]>By: Joelhttps://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/11/best-healthcare-in-the-world/#comment-4210495
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 22:28:09 +0000http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=125473#comment-4210495@Cassidy: I get the fact that the guy got out after 16, not the mandatory retirement minimum, so tough nuts. But this just highlights to me the problem with employer-provided health care in the first place.
]]>By: Not Surehttps://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/11/best-healthcare-in-the-world/#comment-4210489
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 22:26:48 +0000http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=125473#comment-4210489And yet, when somebody suggests a more humane/equitable vesting system for military retirement, you will hear the leadership (mainly officers and senior NCOs who already have 20 years in) whining about how it would cause retention to drop through the floor. Well, let it. There are always a few go-getter E4s who would like to get promoted sooner.
]]>By: Cassidyhttps://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/11/best-healthcare-in-the-world/#comment-4210160
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:42:00 +0000http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=125473#comment-4210160@Ruckus: See my comment at #57. The younger folks could be vets who’ve gotten out over the last 10 years or so. I’m in my 30’s and eligible to be seen at the VA, but I use my health insurance as it’s more convenient.

Pre-volunteer military vets are covered under a different set of rules.

]]>By: evodevohttps://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/11/best-healthcare-in-the-world/#comment-4210144
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:36:22 +0000http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=125473#comment-4210144@hoodie: You just described my brother-in-law. Well, except for the nurse part. Never got within 300 miles of a “combat zone”, joined up during the Nam era, spent all of it except for Gulf War I in either the states or bases abroad (Europe & Korea) and has essentially the same attitude. It’s all I can do to keep my mouth shut when we go for a visit.
]]>By: Ruckushttps://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/11/best-healthcare-in-the-world/#comment-4210129
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:32:36 +0000http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=125473#comment-4210129@Cassidy:
I have to disagree here. I get full VA coverage and I didn’t retire, I served one enlistment during Vietnam. I am over 60 but no where in the VA info have I seen that as a requirement. Now some of this may be due to when I was in and not what has happened in the last 40 yrs but I see people waiting for care in their 20’s and 30’s at the VA. Of course mostly I’m a little younger than the average age, which I’d say is about 70. Either that or some of us have not aged well at all. And BTW I have no service connected disabilities.
]]>By: evodevohttps://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/11/best-healthcare-in-the-world/#comment-4210121
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:30:01 +0000http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=125473#comment-4210121@dr. bloor: Exactly !! My husband and I were paying that much for a middle level group policy through his state teachers’ retirement – most “private”, i.e. non-group, policies run 12-20k for a family.
]]>By: Cassidyhttps://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/11/best-healthcare-in-the-world/#comment-4210119
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:28:44 +0000http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=125473#comment-4210119@Ruckus: Oh I know. I just felt that was the better response.
]]>By: Rafer Jandershttps://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/11/best-healthcare-in-the-world/#comment-4210117
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:27:59 +0000http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=125473#comment-4210117Can we stop calling the SEAL a “soldier”? He was in the Navy, not the Army, so he’s a sailor, not a soldier.
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